Robots Need Love Too

So, it’s a very spoooooky Halloween night (although extremely quiet, maybe because it’s a Sunday. It is weird to have the day of the dead on the day of God and the church, but what can you do). For this spooky night, I have a, wel,l not so spooky topic. This one I debated over and over again in my head because I’ve already talked about him so many times, but I saw him last night, and I think I have even more to add. So, as some of you may know, I went to see Dan Mangan last night, and as some of you may also know I have made an insane claim. A claim that doesn’t come easily. Are you ready for it? I think his show last night may have been one of my favourite shows EVER, if not my favourite live show. Although I’m going to try, I’m not sure I can even begin to explain the impact it had on me, and how truly great it was, but I’ll give it my best shot.

First of all, it was snowing on our way into the show (and as we left). And for all of you who do not know me, there is nothing I love more than snow. Especially big, Christmas-like flakes of snow. I really don’t understand how people don’t like it? It makes things a hundred times prettier. So we’re standing in line, with the pretty snow falling, and than we enter one of the prettiest churches. Seemed really old school. There were two opening bands. First was a band called The Crackling, part of Dan Mangan’s band. They were pretty awesome. And than came the Harbourcoats, a single man, singer-songwriter, thing. It was also very good, although slightly sleepy at times. But, just when you were getting slightly bored, out came Dan looking completely adorable in his stripy hoodie (and Burning Hell t-shirt, kinda funny for a church but, Peterborough represent!). They started the whole show with Sold, one of my very favourite songs. The whole thing was really pumped up, and fantastic. After that, they did song, after song, after song that I really liked and I got worried that all my favourites were going to go, and I was going to end up doing the classic “watch watching” thing I find myself doing at some shows. But, it just got better and better and better.

Usually at a live show, if you’re lucky you get what I call a “moment”. A song that seems to change everything. In this show, there seemed to be quite a few moments, from the very first song. Highlights for me were Sold, of course, Tina’s Glorious Comeback (another of my faves, love the Tom Waits reference), Robots, and an unknown song as his encore at the very end. For Tina’s Glorious Comeback, they went completely acoustic and just clapped and stomped, a perfect, perfect moment. Because it was the Halloween weekend a lot of people came in their costumes, my very favourite were the two robot guys. I’m assuming robots because of Dan’s song Robots. So half way through the song (his last song of the night before the encore) he called them up to the stage to strut their stuff. Following those guys all the people in costumes came up. Everyone started to sing along and clap, and viola, a moment. The greatest part of the night though, was his final encore song. I’m sad to admit I don’t even know what it was, but man was it good. He ditched his guitar and mic and walked right into the crowd to sing. The acoustics were so great you could here him perfectly. The song he sang was really sad, everyone just kind of clapped and sang along. It was really perfect, this scruffy guy in a Burning Hell tshirt standing on a pew singing this song about death, with dead zombie brides, robots, bee’s, cupcakes, and everyone singing together. It was really something, and very hard to describe. All I can say, is I don’t think one person wanted to leave that church, I think everyone would have stayed for the rest of the night, I know I would have. But sadly it had to come to an end, and a happy end it was. For now though, I’m going to give your eyes, and brain a break, and let you sit back and relax to his great video for Robots. Picture home-made robots dancing around while watching it, it really enhances the experience.

I love this video, in all its crazy 80′s robots glory. It’s pretty cool. Even the cheesy happily-ever-after ending works. Once again thank you for indulging me, and allowing, or at least tolerating, another Dan Mangan post, I hope you weren’t too disappointed. It’s pretty hard to capture the same moment I felt while there. All I can say is go see him live, trust me you won’t be disappointed, and remember “Robots need love too”.

Overall Rating: 5++++

Comments: There has never been a more likable guy, I wanted to go right up and give him a huge hug. He seemed to have such passion for what he does, it made him really endearing and likeable.

P.S. hope you had a great Halloween, I did

P.P.S. since it snowed, you have to listen to Hawksley’s First Snow of the Year, it’s a tradition in my family.

I Love You

Alright, so it’s Monday and it’s been quite a long time since I last wrote. Plus, today is extra special because…are you ready for it? This is my 100th post!! WOO-HOO! And to celebrate this I’m going to do a 100 song Random Playlist Monday. I know, I’m pretty dedicated. So, without further ado, here it is (just a warning: I am about to completely embarrass and humiliate myself because I have a feeling some very weird things are about to come up, brace yourselves).

1. War of the Worlds – Get Cape. Wear Cape. Fly
2. The City is a Drag – Hawksley Workman
3. To The Dogs or Whoever – Josh Ritter
4. Neon – John Mayer (so far so good)
5. Joy to the World – Sufjan Stevens
6. Woods – Bon Iver
7. Depot Depot – Tom Waits
8. Fool – Neutral Milk Hotel
9. The Girl You Lost to Cocaine – Sia
10. Back Broke – Swell Season
11. Cape Canaveral – Connor Oberst
12. New Years – Ohbijou
13. At the Airport – Old Man Luedecke
14. Motion the Eleven – Cornershop
15. Extra Ordinary – Dave Mann Collective
16. Sixteen – Justin Trawick (Freaky, no!?)
17. Come Together – Across the Universe Soundtrack
18. Late Bloomer – Sarah Harmer
19. Never Going Back Again – Fleetwood Mac
20. An Open Door – Illinois
21. Dream About Flying – Alexis Murdoch
22. South Australia – The Pogues
23. Trouble – Ray LaMontagne
24. Here Goes Something – Nada Surf
25. Waiting on the World to Change – John Mayer
26. To Go Home – M. Ward
27. Language is a Virus – Laurie Anderson
28. Doot Doot Plot – The Hidden Cameras
29. I Don’t Mind – The Cave Singers
30. Whole Lotta Losin’ – Monsters of Folk
31. Home – Wintersleep
32. Perfect – Danny Michel (It’s about time!)
33. Say Hey (I Love You)  – Michael Franti and Spearhead
34. Sula – Jeremy Fisher
35. Violins – Lagwagon
36. The Clearing in the Woods – Harry Nilsson (It’s getting strange now!)
37. Oviedo – Blind Pilot
38. Little Nancy – Fionn Regan
39. Junkie Song – The Be Good Tanyas
40. Jimmy Jazz – Clash (Good changeup there!)
41. Chelsea Dagger – Fratellis
42. Free Until They Cut Me Down – Iron and Wine
43. Low Day – Capra
44. Gypsy Boys Reprise – David Francey
45. I Am a Rich Man – Old Man Luedecke
46. Sammy – The One Night Band
47. The First Snow of the Year – Hawksley Workman
48. Run Devil Run – Jenny Lewis with the Watson T
49. On My Way – Ben Kweller
50. I’ve Just Seen a Face – Across the Universe (Go see this movie if you haven’t already, and if you have go watch it again I know I’m going to)
51. Toothpaste Kisses – The Maccabees
52. A Matter of Minutes – Shawn Colvin
53. Black Wave-Bad Vibrations – Arcade Fire
54. We Go -   Thao
55. Story of My Life – Done With Dolls
56. Had Me a Girl – Tom Waits
57. Blake’s View – M. Ward
58. Salt Bean Fumble – The Penguin Cafe Orchestra (Great name for a song if not a little strange)
59. Close to Me – The Cure
60. With or Without You – U2
61. Why Didn’t You Call Me? – Macy Gray
62. To Your Love – Fiona Apple
63. Never Know – Jack Johnson
64. Sold – Dan Mangan (Going to see him next week: can’t wait)
65. Anti-social – Cuff the Duke
66. Satisfied – Bruce Peninsula
67. Cowgirl in the Sand – City and Color
68. No Sleep – Sam Roberts
69. Last Leaf – The Cake Sale
70. Basket – Dan Mangan
71. Happier – A Fine Frenzy
72. Hearts in the Park – Patrick Watson
73. Our Velocity – Maximo Park
74. Midnight Lullaby – Tom Waits (With 3 songs, Tom now dominates, but how could he not?)
75. House in Motion – Talking Heads
76. Hello Seattle – Owl City
77. Oxford Comma – Vampire Weekend
78. Run (I’m a Natural Disaster) – Gnarls Barkley
79. Patience – Take That
80. Hours Last Stand – Elvis Perkins
81. (Past-due) – The Weakerthans
82. State of the Union – David Ford
83. Gomni – Ali Farka Toure
84. A Call to Arms – Beirut
85. The Saga – The Libertines
86. Shelter from the Storm – Bob Dylan
87. Sweet Baby James – James Taylor (some classic cheese, but we all love our cheese, well except for lactose intolerant people)
88. True – The Frames
89. The Dozens – Amelia Curran
90. 1234 – Feist
91. Champion Angel – Low Anthem
92. Try (just a little bit harder) – Janis Joplin
93. Sweet Hallelujah – Hawksley Workman
94. Quiet – Rachael Yamagata
95. All is Love – Karen O and the Kids (if you haven’t seen “Where the Wild Things Are”, go see it NOW)
96. Hannah – Freelance
97. Whales – Personal Stars
98. This Feeling — Danny Michel (just in time)
99. Relax – Frankie Goes to Hollywood (a terrible song! Yet so very good)
100. Brainy – The National

So, that was quite the list. There were some really good things on there, and a few questionable ones. Now is the appropriate time to laugh at that list. I must admit I’m slightly embarrassed by it, especially the Frankie Goes to Hollywood, but oh well I guess. Of course, there was an extremely large amount of Danny, Tom and Hawksley, but there always is. Today though out of all those songs I’m going to go for Michael Franti, because we all need a music pick-me-up every once and a while, and a little reggae never hurt anyone.

I first discovered Michael Franti through his Obama Song. I was really into Obama and all he stood for (and still am) and the song just seemed really cool to me, it also proved to me that I can like hip-hop/rap/reggae music (other than Bob Marley). After the intial discovery I went in and found a few more of his songs. I especially fell in love with Say Hey (I Love You). Sure it’s a little cheesy, but it’s a damn good cheesiness. And there’s just some kind of appeal to Michael Franti, I’m not entirely sure what it is, but he has that “thing”. This song just always makes me especially happy, and it can give you a good outlook on the world, this is especially shown in the video. The video for Say Hey (I Love You) has just made it up pretty high on my list of top videos. It’s pretty fantastic and incredible cute, see for yourself.

I love this video, I especially love that it’s real people and his background looks real, not Hollywood perfect. I think that’s what makes the song not come across totally fake and cheesy. It has a certain real-ness to it not expressed in most things. I really love that the people look like real people of different sizes, cultures, and are allowed to show real emotions. It’s a pretty darn cute video, and I think it can even make all you cynics out there smile (it achieved that for me, and I’m about as cynical as it gets). So, please smile away for the rest night, and if you’re like me you’re going to watch this video about a million times more. For now though I’m out, thanks for putting up with me for this long, it’s greatly appreciated, and feel free to continue, that would also be greatly appreciated.

P.S. Feel free to get up and dance a bit to, it may actually be a requirement. Awkward dancing especially.

Random Dan

It’s Monday, boohoo! But I’m not going to dwell on the negative and just move right onto the positive. And what is that you may ask? Maybe the fact that it’s RANDOM PLAYLIST MONDAY!! Hip-hip-hurray! Without further ado, here it is, on this lovely freezing cold day.

1. Piano Song – Meiko (I really like her if you’re into that cheery indie girl stuff)
2. Peace Train – Cat Stevens
3. Steady On – Shawn Colvin (this is quite the gloomy, folky playlist)
4. Two – The Antlers
5. Train in the Distance – Paul Simon
6. Coat Hook – Fionn Regan
7. Fantasy Man – Swell Season (a perfect song for the weather today)
8. Heavy Soup – Cornershop (also perfect)
9. Joy to the World – Arthur & Friends (getting into that Christmas mood)
10. Road Regrets – Dan Mangan

So that was a pretty awesome Random Playlist, although there isn’t really anything new on it, it was pretty old-school. So I am going to resort back to Dan Mangan. Now I know I’m always talking about him, but there is a video of his I’ve been wanting to show for a while, plus you can’t really get tired of Dan Mangan. Road Regrets is by far one of my favourite Dan Mangan songs, actually it’s one of my favourite songs over-all, and the video really lives up to the greatness of the song. So, without any more delay, here is the video for Road Regrets.

It’s a really clever video, and extremely cute too. It could also be one of those short animated videos at the beginning of some movies. What I don’t understand is why isn’t music like this more  popular? Why isn’t the Indie industry the main industry? It is so interesting and so in-depth and in my opinion knocks the socks off of the main-stream industry but for some reason never seems to be completely accepted. Well, for all those people for completely missing out because you don’t get to see gems like the fantasic Mr. Mangan. I think that is all of my music rant for the day, so until next time, have  a great night and talk to you soon!

Chai Lattes, Rain, and Mondays

It’s Monday, and a rainy one at that. I couldn’t possibly ask for a better day and hopefully that means a good playlist as well. So sit back, relax, get your Chai Latte all ready, and enjoy what should be a pretty awesome Random Playlist Monday.

1. Hey, That’s No Way To Say Goodbye – Leonard Cohen (it’s a good way to say hello though)

2. A Matter of Minutes – Shawn Colvin (for all your sad and miserable days)

3. Steady State – Penguin Cafe Orchestra (this is my favourite study music, not to mention just great music)

4. Rosie – Chubby Checker (this was for a playlist I made my little cousin, it’s a perfect baby song)

5. I Have Been a Fool – Jack Penate (this is another dad find and a pretty fantasic one at that)

6. Brian Wilson – The Barenaked Ladies (I’m afraid I have a bit of a thing for The Barenaked Ladies, especially their greatest hits CD)

7. Sleep – Meiko (Meiko is absolutely fantasic, check out some of her other stuff)

8. Not Too Late – Norah Jones (perfect rainy day music)

9. Sleeping With The Lights On – Teitur (I really love this song, but I always forget about it)

10. Run – Vampire Weekend

So a good playlist except for one little thing. NONE OF THE STANDARDS WERE ON IT! No Hawksley Workman. No Tom Waits. No Danny Michel. I think this is my first Random Playlist to not have atleast one of the three mentioned. But looking past that horrible fact it was pretty good otherwise. Especially for a rainy day what with Norah Jones, Shawn Colvin, and Leonard Cohen not to mention my very favourite Chubby Checker (why do all those guys have names like Chubby or Fat?). I think today is a good day for Teitur though.

I discovered Teitur a few years ago and like I mentioned above I always seem to forget about him. I’m not entirely sure why though since his music is fantastic and every time I hear him I think “wow, I love that”. He hails from the Faroe Islands (get ready for your Georgraphy lesson), which after googled (is that a word) I discovered are part of the Kingdom of Denmark situated between the Norweigan Sea and the North Atlantic Ocean between Great Britain and Iceland. No wonder he’s so pale. But back to the music, I’m a huge fan of his CD Poetry & Aeroplanes. It has most of the songs I like including Sleeping With The Lights On (which has made it onto many a Rainy Day Playlist), Poetry & Aeroplanes (my dad always says when you don’t know a artist or CD go for the song named after the album, which is what I did here), and Shade of Shadow but of course their all pretty darn good. Do check out his other CD’s to and get your Faroe Island fix. For now though here’s a sneak peek of his greatness with his video for Sleeping With The Lights On (which I actually do most nights).

He’s a pretty pale, skinny, nerdy guy with a pretty fantastic voice. I also kind of like the video in all it’s quiet and nerdy glory. That’s all for now until next time (hopefully tomorrow if I get my act together).

P.S. I went to the CNE yesterday and the “theme” of this one was Rock Legends. They had this great exhibit with clothes, records and shoes fromm the great rock legends. I came to the conclusion that John Lennon had pretty awesome clothes not to mention shoes. Oh and the Rock Legends on ice was even better. It’s pretty hard to make male figure skaters look like tough old rock’n'roll guys. They did try though.

P.P.S. to further my love of Dan Mangan I figured out today while listening to a podcast of his from CBC that he references Tom Waits CD Frank’s Wild Years in his song Tina’s Glorious Comeback. Anyone who references is good by me. It also gave me the idea to make a playlist of Tom Waits reference songs. How many could there be?

Endearing Hats

Okay so another whole week has passed. What is my problem? You’d think in the summer I’d have more time to write but it’s been the exact opposite. Of course I may write more during school time just to avoid homework. But none-the-less I am here now and ready to report more on music. I think my exuse this week for missing so many days (because there is always an exuse) is that I was away on the “culinary adventure” with my mom and we were to busy stuffing our faces (to put it really nicely. I always hate when people say that, not quite sure why I did…) with the most delicious food to write about music or anything else. Basically we just ate, and ate. But of course only the finest of foods (and one or two mishaps). But I have returned, am back on a normal diet (well an all salad diet to compensate for the amount of well not salad I ate well away) and ready to write. Sadly not much musically happened well we were away. I did though come across quite a wonderful little gem while searching for a topic for the day. I was thinking Aidan Knight and on a search for his video’s I came across a duet of him and Dan Mangan which seemed far to perfect. You already know how much I love Dan Mangan (speaking of, he has one song with the line “there’s a place I sometimes like to dine” in his song The Indie Queens Are Waiting and well that place for me is Ithaca, New York where we just went for our eating marathon) and I’ve just recently discovered Aidan Knight so for 3:27 of this song I was in complete and utter music heaven. Dan Mangan also sometimes performs with Shance Koyczan. He makes many heavenly music moments for me. Thank you Dan Mangan.

But back to the song. Like I said I’d only just discovered Aidan Knight (on last.fm of course) and only had a few of his songs including Altar Boys, Fighting Against Your Lungs, and Sorrows. But the discovery of his song Jaspar was a great one indeed. He has a great indie, folk, singer-songwriter vibe (which is just what I like) but also an added…twang? He has this other “thing” to him that makes him even more special and not just “another one of eyetunes folky indie guys” (of course he doesn’t have a beard either so take that world). I’ll let you see for yourself though. Here’s the video for Jaspar. Enjoy and talk to you in 3:27.

I like that their in the wilderness (well there’s a road behind them but still) I’m thinking probably close to Jaspar due to the snow and mountainous humps behind them. Plus it looks pretty darn cold, Mr. Knight and Mr. Mangan’s hands must have been quite frozen. The cold puffs of air coming out of their mouths each time they sing also adds quite the effect. The things people do for good music and the right atmosphere and feel. They could have just stood infront one of those fake scenes you see at photography places. That’s how you know a hardcore musician. Their red hats are also quite indearing (I’m a sucker for a red toque, but aren’t we all?). Oh and the song lyrics are quite lovely as well, they have a bit of an old-timey folk song feel and I like that. But that’s all for me tonight. For some reason I seem to write best at night but by the end I get very incredibly sleepy and my spelling and grammar probably just dies completely (sorry about that). For now though enjoy the video check out the musicians you won’t be disappointed and I’ll see you tomorrow for Random Playlist Monday, HOORAY!

When Dinosaurs Roamed the Earth

So, it’s Monday, but it’s a free Monday wiht no school or other commitments. I didn’t even realize until my mom pointed out that it was random playlist day, and because she was the one who remembered she got to shuffle the playlist on her iPod. So without further ado here is my mother’s random playlist.

1. Clampdown – The Clash

2. When You Gonna Flower? – Hawksley Workman

3. Midnight Moonlight – Be Good Tanyas

4. Song For Sarah Jane – Hawksley Workman (I guess it’s a Hawksley day)

5. Rise – The Frames

6. Toledo – Danny Michel (another awesome Danny song)

7. Mrs Mcgrath – Bruce Springsteen (from my favourite Springsteen album, We Shall Overcome)

8. Virginia Avenue – Tom Waits (there’s always some Tom, and always some Hawksley)

9. Into The Flame – Danny Michel (I guess the shuffle also sensed our Danny mood lately)

10. I Go Blind – 54-40 (another classic, and one of my moms favourites)

So apparently it was a Danny/Hawksley day, and that’s always a good day. I especially love the Hawksley Workman/Be Good Tanyas segue. That was really something you’d only get in a random playlist. Overall though, my mom;s shuffle was pretty similar to mine. I’m really happy the 54-40 came up on it, because that’s a great topic for a great, but super incredibly, wicked witch of the west melting kind of day.

I know my mom has been a fan of them since, well, dinosaurs roamed the earth. But they’ve managed to stay pretty popular. We were just talking about how their music doesn’t sound very dated, well I Go Blind doesn’t anyway. That’s pretty impressive 25 years later. I can’t say I know a ton of their music, but I know a good song when I hear one, and I Go Blind is surely one of those (in a bit of a cheesy kind of way). Below is the video for the song. It’s not at all what I expected, but see for yourselves.

It was a way different take on the song than I imagined. I kind of saw a pretty girl, and a bit of a love story, but instead it was much deeper. It looked at real issues like, poverty, fires, disasters, pain and in a sad way I really liked that. I liked that they used their song for more than money, and popularity (although I’m sure they got that too). It’s not the best quality video, and not even the best video, but I really appreciated the effort to do something a little different, in my opinion anyway.

P.S. I love their matching jackets at the end.

Rain, Rain Please Stay

So, a good ol’ rainy day, where it just rains and all you want to do is curl up on the couch with a good book, some tea and the perfect music. Well this is a mood I’m often in and have made many a Rainy Day playlist, but there not all great, so here’s another try of mine. The problem with the rainy day playlist is it’s hard to know what the perfect rainy day song is. I’m sitting at my aunts house curled up on the couch awaiting the rain and couldn’t be happier. These are songs that seem pretty good to me at this exact time on this exact rainy day, let me know your perfect rain song.

1. Ticket Taker – Low Anthem (my dad introduced me to this, and I really love it, GO DAD!)

2. Passion Play – William Fitzsimmons

3. City Song – Emmy The Great

4. Low Rising – The Swell Season

5. World Spins Madly On – Weepies (my favourite morning song, or grumpy, bad mood song totally captures the mood)

6. Road Regrets – Dan Mangan

7. All The Way Down – Glen Hansard

8. Song For Your – Alexi Murdoch (pretty little song for any mood)

9. Shore to Shore – Johnny Flynn (just a perfect song)

10. Bright Future – Bowerbirds

11. Insects – Brasstronaut (a creepy title for a pretty, rainy song. Don’t get turned off by the name like I did at first)

12. Safe and Sound – Hawksley Workman (the most perfect song EVER, for anything)

13. Song For The Road – David Ford

14. Eyes Full Of Rose – Horse Feathers

15. Julie Blue – Joe Purdy

16. Weighty Ghost – Wintersleep (another fantastic song that I’ll never get sick of)

17. Beautiful – Danny Michel (because it captures the mood perfectly and who doesn’t love Danny?)

18. Blue Skies – Noah and the Whale (the title may have blue in it but it’s “a song for anyone who can’t get out of bed”, perfect)

19. Dreamer – Jenn Grant

20. Skeletons (Acoustic Version) – Yeah Yeah Yeahs (one of my favourite songs by them)

21. Drinking Games – Library Voices (saw them at Hillside, FANTASTIC)

22. In The Battle of Sun VS. Curtains, Sun Loses and We Sleep Until Noon – Woodpigeon (greatest song title ever and perfect for a rainy day)

22. Lay Me Down – The Frames

23. The Dress Looks Nice On You – Sufjan Stevens

24. Summer Day – Coconut Records (don’t let the name decieve you, it’s all about rain)

I’d say that’s pretty awesome for a rainy day, or any day for that matter. A day you need some good quiet music, which is a lot of days for me. Below is the video for Weighty Ghost, which I’ve been meaning to play for awhile so it’s perfect. This is one of my favourite video’s even though there’s nothing spectacular about it. Maybe it’s just the great song, or the sing-along chorus which I’m a HUGE sucker for. Either way, enjoy.

I hope that put you in the rainy, sleepy mood if you weren’t already.

Mood Music

Alright all you eyetuners, I’ve done something fantastic. For the first time since I got my music listography book, I’ve been brave enough to open it and start a playlist. Now ironically the first playlist I opened up to was Songs That Completely Transform Your Mood (A.K.A. Therapist in a Song). This is the perfect playlist for me at the moment and I’m happily filling it out. Now the book gives 22 spots to put songs (which is  a strange number), but I’m not going to fill it all out right now. I’m assuming it means the songs transform a mood in a good way (I think I have more than 22 bad songs). As I’m recording the playlist I’m noticing that most of the songs are new ones. I think that may be because all my old therapy songs have bad moments associated with them (which is ironic, considering their supposed to be happy songs, associated with good things), so I’m starting fresh (well except for a few).

1. Orange Sky – Alexi Murdoch (I know very predictable)

2. Claire Fontaine – Hawksley Workman (I have both a Christmas thing and a Hawksley thing, which makes this the perfect therapy song)

3. When I Look At You – Miley Cyrus (I’m afriad I can’t explain this one, sorry. I really wish I could)

4. Road Regrets – Dan Mangan

5. One (Blake’s Got A New Face) – Vampire Weekend (as I’ve told you before, this song makes me think of someone who always makes me smile)

6. Low Rising – The Swell Season (this song just has that, ahhh, everything is okay effect)

7. Fairytale of New York – The Pogues (as you can tell, I really have a Christmas thing, this whole playlist should just be Christmas Songs. There’s something about this song I really love, although it’s not really very nice)

8. Falling Slowly – Glen Hansard & Marketa Irglova

9. Safe and Sound – Hawksley (this whole playlist could also be Hawksley)

10. San Diego Serenade – Tom Waits (my sleepy song, enough said)

11. All Is Love – Karen O and the Kids

12. Ain’t No Reason – Brett Dennen

13. Sweater Song – Hedley (once again, hard to explain)

14. The Cave – Mumford & Sons

That’s all I can think of for now. I’m going to post this playlist on my Music Listography Page, where you can find this and soon to be, other ones. Check for updates, I’ll keep adding songs as I think of them. Of course, now that I’m actually doing the playlist I can’t think of many, hopefully more come. I’m thinking that I’m going to start filling out more of the book, not that I’ve christened it. Probably expect one, every week or so.

So, I was having trouble finding a song to play because I’ve talked about most of them already, so below is Sweater Song by Hedley. When I was really little I was really in love with Hedley especially the song On My Own (I still no all the words), I even got to see them once. As a got older I decided that I actually wasn’t so crazy about them, it got to the point where I couldn’t stand it. It may be because all of a sudden my friends started to really like it as well, which made it no longer my little secret. And than one day I heard my aunt playing the Sweater Song. I didn’t even realize it was Hedley at first, but I really love it even though it’s uber cheesy, trust me I know. The week I discovered the song was during, you got it, CHRISTMAS! So it always makes me really happy. Enjoy the song, or atleast try to. I know, Miley, Hedley same playlist, YIKES. But Hawksley and Tom are there too.

I still have my autograph from Jacob Hoggard my cousin got me, although it doesn’t have the same appeal it used to, it was still my first autograph. It will be an embarrassing music thing to tell my kids, although by than Hedley will probably be non-existent.

A Place I Sometimes Like To Die

I’m having a very quiet and melancholy day. I woke up with a headache and puffy eyes (which is always a bad sign) so to match my mood I’ve decided that Dan Mangan is the guy I want to talk about today. My dad actually told me about him and I loved it the minute I heard it. I’ve been in this super quiet indie folk mood and that’s exactly what he is. He also has a duet song which has become something I really love lately. I’ve even made a whole playlist of duet songs, but that will come another time.

In 2007 he released his first CD, Post Cards and Daydreaming which I have to admit I have not listened to as much. In 2009 he released his second CD Nice, Nice, Very Nice which is the CD with my favourite songs. I find something about him is just really quiet and peaceful and I love that.

Today I went to search his video for the song The Indie Queens Are Waiting and fell in love with it. It definitley matches my super quiet mood. I really love the line “Down the road and on the right-hand side there’s a place I sometimes like to dine” For I long time I thought it was “there’s a place I sometimes like to die”. I was slightly disappointed when I found out it wasn’t that, because that line really seemed perfect for me today although the actual line isn’t quite as morbid or depressing which I guess is good. I showed my mom the video and just like me she thought there was something very compelling about the video and the music. It’s hard to look away from it or to stop listening to it.

I think my 3 favourite Dan Mangan songs have to be The Indie Queens Are Waiting, Road Regrets, and Sold, all from his CD Nice, Nice, Very Nice. I hope you enjoy him as much as I do. He’s just another example of great Canadian Indie Music. Below is his video for The Indie Queens Are Waiting.

Their is something about him that seems really familiar, like I just ran into him at the store or something, that must be what makes him so likeable.